English

In line with the National Curriculum, the teaching of English is structured to develop skills in:

a)  Speaking and Listening

Our intent is to enable pupils to become effective communicators and develop self-confidence. We achieve this through listening to and telling stories, sharing and enjoying poetry and play scripts and embracing a wealth of non fiction material. We believe in offering our pupils opportunities to view high quality theatrical experiences in order that they can enjoy different styles of delivery and storytelling. This supplements the drama lessons our children receive within school which reach across the curriculum. We have a proud history of performance and our pupils take part in assemblies, creative weeks, concerts, a theatrical show, as well as a having a multitude of opportunities to perform in class. We believe that Speaking and Listening is a key factor in developing children's love of English and self confidence 

b)  Reading

We intend to foster a lifelong love of reading. We value reading as a key life skill and believe it is essential for academic success. We want to encourage our pupils to become independent readers for pleasure, information and instruction. It is our aim that by the end of primary school all pupils can read fluently and with confidence.

We have a structured reading programme from Nursery to Year 6.  Pupils are given the opportunity to read every day as individuals, in groups and in whole class sessions.  Since reading is not just about recognising words, the children develop skills associated with oral and written comprehension, expressive phrases and vocabulary, story and character development and using texts as a source of information. In addition to our reading scheme books, children also visit the school library every fortnight and have the opportunity to select a book of their choice. There is a wide range of material available including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. They will also be taught to use library systems appropriate to their age. Children will bring home a book every day to continue to develop their reading skills. We strongly advise parents to sit and read with their child as regularly as possible and to be partners in developing their child as a reader. Any books damaged or not returned to school will be chargeable to parents.

Our aim is to foster each child’s enjoyment of reading.

We place great emphasis on reading for pleasure and giving children the opportunity to read to different audiences. We provide opportunities for peer reading, paired reading with other year groups as well as enjoying lively story sessions at the end of the day.

EYFS

Our main approach to teaching reading is through synthetic phonics, which introduces the children to individual letter sounds before moving on to blends and diagraphs. We use the Jolly Phonics scheme which incorporates a range of motivational and multi-sensory strategies such as singing songs, performing actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, listening to short stories and looking at flash cards with pictures.

There are five skills taught within Jolly Phonics:

1.Learning the letter sounds

2.Learning letter formation

3.Blending

4.Identifying the sounds in words (Segmenting)

5.Tricky words

Children are encouraged to take books home to share with adults, and individual reading books are given by the class teacher when they feel the child is ready based on their phonic skills.

Year 1

Throughout Year 1 we continue to use the Jolly Phonics scheme to support children with their reading. We also teach guided reading on a daily basis. During these sessions children will explore a range of fiction and non-fiction books which they will take home to read to/with an adult. To develop comprehension skills we encourage children to talk about the books they are reading and use the context, picture clues and a range of decoding skills in addition to their use of phonics. Children are given literacy based activities to support and extend their reading through guided reading sessions. Reading books are changed regularly.

Year 2 – Year 6 

Some children may still require a Jolly Phonics books to support their learning whilst most will have access to poetry, fiction or non-fiction books. These texts are used for guided reading and will be changed regularly. As the children progress onto more challenging books they may keep them for longer. Guided reading activities embed our rich cultures of both reading and English and are designed to challenge and re-enforce English skills.

c)   Writing                                                                                                            

Our intent in writing is for pupils to draw upon their English skills to communicate effectively with an audience. We acknowledge that writing is inextricably linked with both speaking and listening and reading and are aware of the impact each has on the other. Writing is planned, revised, evaluated and edited in order to have maximum impact.  Writers will be aware of purpose, form and content and ensure their viewpoint is expressed effectively. Vocabulary, grammar and the standard use of English will be developed to aid writing and we intend pupils to leave school writing fluently and legibly. Children from Nursery to Year 6 are provided with a variety of opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across the curriculum.